The President is going to benefit from me reporting directly to him when I arrive.

I understand everybody in this country doesn’t agree with the decisions I’ve made. And I made some tough decisions. But people know where I stand.

You cannot be in a position of power and destroy the life of another person.

Unless a president can protect the privacy of the advice he gets, he cannot get the advice he needs.

The trouble with Nixon is that he’s a serious politics junkie. He’s totally hooked and like any other junkie, he’s a bummer to have around, especially as President.

I am not interested in power for power’s sake, but I’m interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good.

The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.

I remember the last three days that I was president, I never went to bed at all. I never went to bed until we had negotiated the final release of the hostages.

A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men.

Every President wants to do right.

One of the more difficult tasks for me as president was to decide on the issue of confirming capital punishment awarded by courts… to my surprise… almost all cases which were pending had a social and economic bias.

Use power to help people. For we are given power not to advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power and it is to serve people.

Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.

I want a president with a record of public service: someone whose life’s work shows our children that we don’t chase form and fortune for ourselves; we fight to give everyone a chance to succeed.

I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for predecessors as well.

In my opinion eight years as president is enough and sometimes too much for any man to serve in that capacity.

Every President I think I’ve ever known, except Truman, has thought they didn’t quite get done what they wanted done. And toward the end of their Administrations, they were disappointed and wished they had done some things differently.

If you’re a quarterback, you want everything on your shoulders. You want to be the one to make the decisions.

A conductor can’t be too arrogant with an orchestra and try to impose himself too much.

When restraint and courtesy are added to strength, the latter becomes irresistible.

You don’t lead by hitting people over the head – that’s assault, not leadership.

I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end… I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.

If you are a parent, you have probably already realized that your children are always watching what you do. And just as children watch their parents and emulate their behavior, so do employees who are watching their bosses.

Put two or three men in positions of conflicting authority. This will force them to work at loggerheads, allowing you to be the ultimate arbiter.

A word of encouragement from a teacher to a child can change a life. A word of encouragement from a spouse can save a marriage. A word of encouragement from a leader can inspire a person to reach her potential.

I just think you ought to talk straight with your people.

One must steer, not talk.

To supervise people, you must either surpass them in their accomplishments or despise them.

How can we help President Obama?

The more nobly a man wills and acts, the more avid he becomes for great and sublime aims to pursue. He will no longer be content with family, country, and the remunerative aspect of his work. He will want wider organisations to create, new paths to blaze, causes to uphold, truths to discover, an ideal to cherish and defend.

The Scoutmaster teaches boys to play the game by doing so himself.

I feel good because I believe I have made progress in rebuilding the people’s trust in their government.

When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned.

A master performer like Bill Clinton never lost sight of the fact that as president he had to project confidence and power, but if he was speaking to a group of autoworkers he would adjust his accent and his words to fit the audience, and do the same for a group of executives.

A leader does not deserve the name unless he is willing occasionally to stand alone.

There are some women I definitely would not want to succeed me… but a man like David Souter, that would be great.

Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.

A wise ruler ought never to keep faith when by doing so it would be against his interests.

As a leader, you have to have the ability to assimilate new information and understand that there might be a different view.

Cruel leaders are replaced only to have new leaders turn cruel.

A president has an inescapable responsibility to provide direction: What are we trying to achieve? What are we trying to prevent? Why? To do that, he has to both analyze and reflect.

Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.

As a leader, the first person I need to lead is me. The first person that I should try to change is me.

I wanted in my lifetime to vote for a radical Native American woman, since my vision of any future that we might have is that it will be led by women and older women.

I think I’d be a better president because I was in combat.

In George Bush you get experience, and with me you get – The Future!

The measure of a man is what he does with power.

In truth, I did enjoy the benefits of a Harvard connection.

International affairs is very much run like the mafia. The godfather does not accept disobedience, even from a small storekeeper who doesn’t pay his protection money. You have to have obedience; otherwise, the idea can spread that you don’t have to listen to the orders, and it can spread to important places.

Go before the people with your example, and be laborious in their affairs.

It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.

The more responsibility the Scoutmaster gives his patrol leaders, the more they will respond.

Most people don’t like change. They revolt against it unless they can clearly see the advantage it brings. For that reason, when good leaders prepare to take action or make changes, they take people through a process to get them ready for it.

I am certainly not one of those who need to be prodded. In fact, if anything, I am the prod.

One of my direct subordinates, one of my guys that worked for me, he would call me up or pull me aside with some major problem, some issue that was going on. And he’d say, ‚Boss, we’ve got this, and that, and the other thing.‘ And I’d look at him and I’d say, ‚Good.‘

Being a good listener is absolutely critical to being a good leader; you have to listen to the people who are on the front line.

My job is not to represent Washington to you, but to represent you to Washington.

Presidents quickly realize that while a single act might destroy the world they live in, no one single decision can make life suddenly better or can turn history around for the good.

I have a cult-like following because I exemplify what it is to be a human being.

One of the things that was really an issue was I did not want to just be a woman secretary of state. I wanted to be a secretary of a state who was a woman, but not just chosen for that particular reason.

You can play fast but not in a hurry. As a point guard, I can dictate that.